Saddest Thing I Read Today

Senseless violence leaves it mark on everybody. I feel so bad for the
animal & the folks who cared for him. :(


Community Erects Cross For Beloved Duck Found Headless

POSTED: 1:15 pm EDT May 24, 2006

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- A duck that waited patiently for its mate to recover from a broken leg was found decapitated by stunned retirement community residents, who buried the bird in a grave marked with a wooden cross and flowers.

Residents found Jeckle's headless carcass Saturday at the Bell Trace retirement community.

"We're all heartbroken," said Susan Wensel, Bell Trace's administrative assistant.

Jon Vestuto, the community's assistant maintenance manager, said Jeckle was killed next to the special pen he built last month so that the duck's mate, Heckle, could recover from a broken leg.

Bell Trace resident Mary Salz believes Jeckle, who never strayed far from the pen, died trying to protect his mate. She said Heckle now seems despondent.

"She just sits there in the pen and softly quacks," Salz said.

Vestuto captured the injured Heckle last month and brought her to WildCare Inc., where a veterinarian inserted pins in her broken leg.

Vestuto moved Heckle back to WildCare Inc. on Monday. Once Heckle's leg heals, she'll be moved to a nearby farm's fenced-in duck pond.

Bell Trace residents, meanwhile, have marked Jeckle's grave near the pond with white marble chips, a white wooden cross and flowers.

"It sounds terrible to carry on like this about a duck, but we're all very sad," said resident Velma Harrison. "It's a tragic ending to what could have been a very sweet story."

Disgusting, how do some people live.

Poor, poor duck. :(

weird! is all I can say!! :confused:

That is so heartbreaking.

I'm sorry you had to go through such hatred while trying to be so kind.

Duck Dies Weeks After Mate Found Mauled To Death

POSTED: 6:28 pm EDT June 10, 2006


BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- A duck moved to a wildlife hospital after its mate was mauled has itself died, and one of its former keepers blames a broken heart -- not the bird's broken leg.

Heckle, whose mate Jeckle was found dead and headless two weeks ago, was found dead in her pen Tuesday at WildCare Inc., where she had stayed for 13 days for treatment of a broken leg.

"It's a real mystery. She seemed to be doing fine, but for some reason, died during the night. No one knows why," said Bob Foyut, a WildCare board member in charge of raptors and water fowl.

Heckle and Jeckle had been a fixture at Bloomington's Bell Trace retirement community this spring. After Heckle broke a leg, Jon Vestuto, the retirement center's assistant maintenance manager, built a pen so that the bird could recuperate.


Heckle stayed there, with Jeckle at her side until he was mauled to death by a predator.

Vestuto, who moved Heckle to WildCare fearing the predator might return to kill again, believes Heckle "died of a broken heart."

"I think she missed Jeckle," he said.

When he learned of Heckle's death, Vestuto picked up her carcass and buried it alongside Jeckle's.

Now, two white crosses stand sentry over the east end of the Bell Trace pond, reminders of a pair of small ducks that stole and broke the hearts of some senior citizens.

Mary Salz, a Bell Trace resident, said the ducks were absolutely inseparable.

"They were never more than two feet away from one another," she said. "Wherever you saw one, you saw the other. They were a pair."

Oh how horrible! :(


I missed this news the first time around. If there is any comfort to be found, it's in the fact that they are once more a pair. Rest in peace sweet duckies.